A Stitch in Time
by whoa nellie
Summary: Admiral Janeway's actions in Endgame have interstellar consequences


Title: A Stitch in Time

Author: Whoa Nellie Voyager

New 1/1

Rating: PG-13

Codes: J/C

Synopsis: Admiral Janeway's actions in Endgame have interstellar consequences.

Author's Notes: This story is not part of any of our universes--believe it or not, it fits perfectly (we hope) into the Star Trek canon universe post-Nemesis. It was inspired by a challenge on the Trekbbs, but this is an extended version since that challenge limited the story to 2500 words.

Acknowledgements: Paramount owns all the marbles, we just have a lot more fun playing with them.

Feedback is always appreciated, posted or e-mail.

This is an edited version. If you are at least 18 at would like the read the NC-17 version, it can be found on Whoa Nellie's Sci-Fi Romance Fanfiction website listed on the Miscellaneous Star Trek index page.

A STITCH IN TIME

Hums and clicks filled the air as the drones worked. The Voyager vessel had brought chaos to their perfection, but the drones had found one small spark of coherence in the confusion and clung to it with a singular purpose: survival. The high-pitched whine of assimilation instruments ceased and they all stepped back to watch and wait. Their new queen soon awoke and with her consciousness came a new focus, a stronger sense of purpose than ever before and it transmitted instantly to all of the remaining drones throughout the universe.

"Come," Admiral Kathryn Janeway called in response to her office door chime. She pushed aside the copious PADDs cluttering her desk. Following their triumphant return from the Delta Quadrant, she had been offered a promotion. She hadn't really wanted a desk job, although the peace and quiet were enjoyable after seven years of constant strain. The Dominion War had decimated the ranks of Starfleet, however, so while there were more experienced and more decorated captains than she, her experiences in bringing two disparate crews together and surviving the Delta Quadrant would be invaluable in helping to rebuild a Federation that had not truly fought an extended, all-out war in centuries. That just didn't make the administrative minutiae any less tedious.

Chakotay stepped into her office, pausing just inside the threshold. "Admiral."

She smiled warmly and moved around her desk to welcome him. "Chakotay, this is a pleasant surprise. I thought you were part of the team sent to Romulus after the Shinzon incident."

"I was," he acknowledged. "Praetor Donatra was very anxious to establish cordial relations with us, especially after that whole affair."

Janeway leaned against the edge of her desk, anxious to hear about his experiences. "Did you really meet Ambassador Spock?"

"I've spent a great deal of time talking with him," Chakotay acknowledged. "Although he wasn't quite what I'd expected." He settled himself into the chair she gestured toward and continued. "After all of those years with Tuvok, I was surprised by his personality--very Vulcan but more relaxed, almost personable."

Eying her former First Officer speculatively, she observed. "Somehow I don't think you came by to discuss Vulcan personalities."

"No," he knew he couldn't delay the inevitable any longer. "You should probably sit down."

"That can't be good, just come out with it."

Chakotay stood and rested his hands on her shoulders wondering idly how such a physically small woman could wield such a formidable presence. "The Borg have taken Romulus."

"What?" She felt all of the blood rush from her face as visions of Borg cubes swarming through space flashed through her mind.

"While we were there, the Borg appeared. They disabled the ships in orbit and started assimilating the political and military leaders before anyone even knew they were there," he explained.

Her mind already racing with thoughts of defenses and tactics, Janeway's brow furrowed. "That's not like them, they usually employ a direct, frontal assault. That's an entirely different tactic than anything we've seen from them before; something's changed."

His hands tightened their grip on her shoulders. "I know and I know what. The first warning we had was a transmission from the new Borg Queen advising us that they had already taken over the government and military along with the usual rhetoric about the futility of resistance. We barely managed to get Ambassador Spock and the Federation people out of there."

"New queen?"

"You," he said softly, his heart constricting painfully at the look of horror on her face. "I think it was--"

"My older self," she finished his sentence with a disgust. She pulled away from him and began pacing the length of her office. "Without the queen, her mind would have been the most coherent. Some of the drones must have gotten away with her before the hub exploded."

Chakotay caught her mid-stride and forced her to look at him. "Admiral--Kathryn, this isn't your fault."

"Isn't it?" she retorted angrily. "Braxton was held responsible for something his future self did. My future self breaks any number of Federation laws to come back to help us and I get a promotion. Now my future self is decimating whole populations and she wouldn't be here if it weren't for me, so who am I supposed to blame?"

"Nobody," he replied. "I asked to be the one to tell you about this because I knew how you'd react. You're not alone, you don't have to--"

"Yes, I do have to go after her," Janeway interrupted him, her jaw firmly set. "I know how she thinks and I have more experience with the Borg Collective than anybody. I'm the best choice to go after her."

"We," he corrected her. "We have more experience with the Borg than other Starfleet officers and I do have more than a little experience with how you think. I'm not going to let you take off in a shuttle on a suicide mission just because you feel sorry for yourself. Whatever we do, we do together, just like before."

A hint of a grin pulled at the corners of her mouth. "I don't remember you being quite so forceful back on Voyager."

He shrugged and his dimples flashed with his smile. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe I just didn't disagree with you all that much on Voyager?"

Her hands pressed into the strong wall of his chest just briefly and then she pulled away. "I assume they're meeting to discuss this."

He understood the implied meaning in her abrupt change of subject; nothing more needed to be said. "Yes, we're expected."

Janeway sized up the room as soon as Chakotay and she entered. Admiral Owen Paris and Admiral William Ross were talking quietly with Ambassador Spock. Taking her seat, she smiled and nodded a silent greeting to the two admirals. "Ambassador Spock, it's an honor to meet you."

Spock inclined his head toward her before replying. "And I am of similar mind in meeting you, Admiral Janeway, although the circumstances are most unfortunate."

Admiral Ross got the meeting started without further preamble. "We were just discussing what reasons the Borg might have for taking Romulus. You would probably be in a better position to offer a guess, Kathryn."

The implication in that statement felt like he'd just punched her in the stomach. She offered a suggestion before addressing that issue. "We should bring Seven in on this--"

"Already done," Admiral Paris informed her. "She's on her way."

Janeway shot a startled look at Chakotay, wondering why he hadn't brought Seven with him. Giving herself a mental shake, she forced her thoughts back to the discussion at hand. What would she do as the Borg Queen? "The Borg were stopped at Wolf 359 in their last attempt on Earth. In the Delta Quadrant we managed to outmaneuver them on a number of occasions. My future self knows all of that in addition to several decades worth of knowledge that I don't have about fighting the Borg. As queen she'll use all of that knowledge to her advantage. We have to assume that this is the first step in her plan."

"But she attacked Romulus," Chakotay offered the slim hope he'd held onto, "couldn't that mean she's still loyal to the Federation?"

Under the table, Janeway reached for Chakotay's hand and gave it a quick squeeze, grateful for his steadfast support. "More likely she's establishing a foothold. We've done some damage to the ranks of the Borg with the Unimatrix Zero incident among others. The Romulan Empire is in the Beta Quadrant directly en route from the Delta Quadrant and offers billions of drones to replenish those that the Collective has lost in recent years. She won't bother with another attempt to manipulate history, she'll know all about the Pogo paradox and won't want to inadvertently give us any advantage. My guess is that she'll establish a unimatrix in Romulan space and launch an assault on other powers including the Federation from there."

"Isn't it at all possible that Commander Chakotay is right and she's an ally?" Admiral Paris asked.

"Doubtful," Janeway said. "I've been linked to the hive mind so I know how overwhelming it can be. Billions of minds looking to my future self's mind for focus and direction will drown out anything else. She's Borg now, even if she is the queen."

Chakotay offered a suggestion. "Admiral Janeway has been successful in negotiating with the Borg in the past. Given who the new queen is, she has a better chance than anyone at talking with them."

Admiral Ross considered the possibility. "All right, the upgrades to Voyager acquired in the Delta Quadrant make it the best option for a mission to Romulus. Commander Chakotay, I'm promoting you to Captain and assigning you to take Voyager to do what you can."

Janeway's reaction was immediate. "Admiral Ross--"

"Admiral Janeway," he cut off her response. "I'm assigning you to the mission as an advisor. You are uniquely suited to deal with this new Borg Queen, but given the potential psychological ramifications, I think it best if someone else has command of the ship and the mission. Chakotay knows almost as much about the Borg as you do, more importantly he knows you. You go as an advisor or not at all, your choice."

Reluctantly, she nodded her acquiescence, not pleased with the turn of events.

Admiral Paris proposed a defensive strategy. "All right, with the Enterprise E still in drydock, Captain Picard is available to help us organize a defense in the event that the Borg continue on to Earth. We should put the fleet on alert, warn them of Borg activity. Captain Chakotay, good luck to you and your crew."

Janeway looked around the room one last time contemplating the possibility that the Borg would be assimilating Earth. There were so many things that she wanted to take with her just for sentimental reasons. Would they be here when she returned? Would she even be back in this house?

"Ready to go?" Chakotay asked. "I let myself in, I hope you don't mind."

She shook her head no. "I was just . . . "

"I know."

Her hands fumbled with the catch on her bag. "I never congratulated you on your promotion."

Chakotay laid his hand on top of hers to still them. "I didn't ask for this."

"Admiral Ross is right," Janeway sighed, looking up at him. "It makes more sense this way. There'll be over a hundred crew members and they deserve a captain who'll be thinking of them, not some crazy admiral arguing with herself."

"I've assigned the captain's quarters to you," he said, ignoring her last comment. "Given all your tinkering with the replicator in those quarters, I'll probably be better off in the guest quarters."

Janeway chuckled. "That replicator hates me and the captain's quarters are rightfully yours anyway."

"I'll have your ready room," he pointed out. "It will take me awhile to think of Voyager as anything other than your ship." Before he could say any more, his communicator chirped.

'Captain Chakotay, we've gone to red alert. Prepare for emergency transport.'

"Acknowledged," he replied as he grabbed her bag. "Two to beam up."

They materialized directly on the bridge instead of in the transporter room. His First Officer immediately filled Chakotay in on the situation and his words hung heavily in the tension-filled room. "Sir, the Borg are here."

"What?" Chakotay started to take his usual seat but corrected himself to take the captain's chair without missing a beat. He pulled up the sensor display on his chair console.

Seven and Axum had reported to the ship just before the appearance of the Borg cubes. They were working at the auxiliary tactical console and she provided him with more detail. "Two Borg vessels just appeared in orbit around Earth, sensor readings indicate that they used a cloaking device to conceal their approach. From what we have been able to determine, they have transported a large number of individuals from the surface onto the cubes. They have not fired weapons at this point; I suggest we break orbit and set course out of this system. One vessel is not sufficient to mount a defense against two Borg cubes."

"Who?" Janeway asked a second before Chakotay.

The security chief supplied the answer, only a slight tremor in his voice betraying the fact that he'd never seen a Borg cube in person before. "The members of the senate, the President of the Federation and every life sign on the compound at Starfleet Headquarters."

Chakotay wanted to stay and fight, at least try to beam up some people from the surface but who? Who should he save and who should he let be assimilated? Common sense told him that Seven was right, they were no match for two Borg cubes. Their best course of action was to cut and run, warn the rest of the Federation and marshal the Starfleet vessels outside of the system for a counterattack. "Set course out of the system and engage Warp 1."

The helmsman turned around in his chair. "Sir, the maximum speed within the system--"

"I know," Chakotay snapped. "Just do it and increase speed to Warp 5 as soon as we're out of the Sol system. Seven, monitor Earth on long range sensors for as long as you can; try to gather as much intelligence as possible. Ops, work with tactical to send coded transmissions to all Starfleet vessels advising them of the situation. We'll have to coordinate efforts without the aid of Starfleet Headquarters. I'll be in my ready room."

Janeway followed him into the ready room feeling oddly in the way on what still felt like her bridge. "Cloaking devices," she sighed in disgust. "That's why she stopped to take Romulus."

"Why?" Chakotay asked. "Surely they've assimilated someone with knowledge of cloaking technology; they could just build their own."

"Efficiency," she said. "They've never considered the cloak as necessary or useful before so they discarded the knowledge as irrelevant. I would understand the advantage it provides and it's quicker and easier to use existing technology. One of the Borg's primary weaknesses has always been an inability to create. If they can't assimilate it, they destroy it. Good to know that I didn't eliminate all of their weaknesses."

"Admiral," Chakotay intoned quietly.

She gave him a self-deprecating shrug. "I meant my future self, of course. She's good, she's taken out the Romulan Star Empire and the United Federation of Planets without firing a shot."

"She hasn't defeated the Federation just yet," he countered. "We still have a mission to complete, trying to get to her and stop this. This isn't over yet, not by a long shot."

Chakotay entered the captain's quarters and immediately felt a strong sense of deja vu'. For a split second it felt like they were still in the Delta Quadrant and being back in the Alpha Quadrant had been just another surreal dream. "Admiral, I thought you'd like an update."

"Just leave it on the table," she murmured absently. She didn't even know how long she'd been staring out the window at the passing stars lost in thought.

He laid the PADD down as requested, but he recognized that tone from their time in the starless region and wasn't about to leave her alone. "Have you eaten?"

"Thank you, Commander, that'll be all."

Chakotay walked over to the window and drew her gaze to him. "It's Captain now, remember? I'll take that dismissal as a 'no'; so do you have any requests or should I just surprise you? I haven't had dinner yet, so we can go over the situation reports while we eat."

She didn't want to eat and she certainly didn't want to talk. "Chakotay--"

"Just eat something, please. You don't have to talk, but you need to eat."

Giving him a grudging nod, she took a seat at the table. "I was just wondering what it would be like to control the hive mind."

He set the plates down and retrieved utensils for them both before sitting down across from her. "I'm worried about you. If I know you, you were thinking about disabling Voyager and taking off in the Delta Flyer to stop the Borg all by yourself or die trying."

"That would solve everything," she pointed out. "One way or another. If I'm dead, my future self can't go back in time to change anything . . . except that I already. Temporal paradoxes give me a headache, but I've been wondering if the Grandfather paradox would change anything here."

"Snap out of this," Chakotay demanded. "We need the real Kathryn Janeway, not a depressed shell. We're in for a fight here and you're more of a fighter than anyone I know. You have never let anyone down, now is not the time to start."

Janeway reached across the table for his hand. "I could have used a few of these pep talks in the Delta Quadrant."

He squeezed her hand before he replied. "You knew where to find me."

"So what is the situation?" she asked, pulling her hand away more out of habit than a desire to break the connection with him.

"The Bozeman and the Titan are coordinating a Starfleet response," he said, quietly accepting her retreat. "They've set up a base of operations on DS9 figuring that the Borg won't bother with Bajor or the wormhole for the time being. We're going to continue our original mission to get to the queen and deal with her somehow."

With a little more than half of her dinner consumed, she pushed the plate away. "The few times we've dealt with the Borg in the past, we've had leverage. This time they have the advantage, what could we possibly use in talks with them now?"

"I was hoping my advisor would come up with an answer to that," he confessed. He gathered their plates and utensils to put in the recycler.

She grabbed her coffee cup and settled on the couch. "This is an odd juxtaposition, isn't it? From Captain and First Officer, now you're the Captain and I'm just your advisor."

"I hope you're also still my friend," he said softly.

"Of course," Janeway replied. "And you were much more than just an advisor or crew member to me. You were a wonderful First Officer even if I didn't always make it easy for you. We're not dealing with just my future self here; we're dealing with the collective minds of the Borg focused through my future self. You're probably the only person I could or would admit this to, but I don't think I'm strong enough to take her on one-to-one."

Chakotay moved from his usual seat in the chair to sit beside her on the couch. "You don't have to face her alone, Kathryn."

"Don't," she cautioned him. "Don't complicate things, we have enough to deal with right now."

Scooting a little further away from her, he shrugged. "I don't see how it would complicate anything but then again I never did. I also was just pointing out that you have the Captain and crew of Voyager with you; what you read into that--"

"Was what I always read and never want to see," she confessed. "Chakotay, there's just so much going on right now, so much on the line. Someone with my mind, my characteristics and a big chunk of my experiences and a lot of her own is now the queen of the Borg. I'm trying to get inside her head and I can't get past how I feel about all of this. Any personal relationships right now would just confuse me more, add to the strain I'm already feeling. I need your friendship more than ever, but--"

"But once again you'll deny yourself what you might want for the good of the whole," Chakotay finished for her. "You wondered earlier how you were going to deal with your Borg self this time since everything seems to be on her side. Well, if you would just let your guard down for a few minutes you could have something that she's never had."

Despite the seriousness of the conversation, Janeway couldn't suppress a chuckle. "Are you saying that you're a secret weapon?"

With a wry grin, he shook his head. "If you have nothing to lose, then you have nothing to fight for either. What you call a complication, some people might call motivation. I'm not asking for promises or commitments from you, just suggesting . . . "

She covered his lips with her fingers. "Shh, just don't say any more."

Chakotay expected her to pull away, gesture for him to leave and act like none of this had been said. He was surprised when she swiftly closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her lips crushed his in a bruising kiss and he returned her fervor as his hands found the pins in her hair and released the soft tresses from their bun. Trying to deepen the kiss, he was frustrated at the feel of her pulling away from him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to steady himself but a hesitant tug on his hand brought his eyes wide open. Willingly, he allowed her to lead him into the bedroom, his body already taut with anticipation.

FINIS

at least for now


End file.
